QMI Agency

BOSTON -- They may not be dramatic, but changes are coming to the NHL.

The league's general managers endorsed recommendations put forward by the NHL Competition Committee during a day-long meeting Wednesday in Boston.

The headline move will be the mandatory use of visors for all new players to the league starting next season. Hybrid icing will get an experimental debut in the 2013-14 pre-season, with both recommendations first needing to pass a vote by the NHL Board of Governors next week.

The visor rule would come into effect for all players who have less than 26 games in the league. Hybrid icing, meanwhile, would be voted on by the players after they experience it in pre-season.

"The players want to use it in an exhibition and see if they're agreeable to it," said Colin Campbell, the NHL's senior VP of hockey operations. "If they are, it'll be game on."

-Rob Longley

WINGS ON THE MOVE?

Detroit’s Downtown Development Authority has outlined a plan to construct a new $650-million events centre that would include a new arena to house the Detroit Red Wings.

The proposed 18,000-seat arena would sit somewhere near Comerica Park and Ford Field, the homes of the Detroit Tigers and Lions, NBC-affiliate Local 4 reported Wednesday.

Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch, who also owns the Tigers, has long mentioned his intention to move the Wings away from their current home, Joe Louis Arena.

“The Joe,” as it’s called, is the fourth-oldest active NHL arena after the New York Rangers’ Madison Square Garden, the New York Islanders’ Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and the Edmonton Oilers’ Rexall Place.

The plan is still subject to approval by the county.

BRIEFLY

The NHL will likely move to ban spin-o-ramas in shootouts next season, according to TSN … The New York Rangers will hold a press conference on Friday at Radio City Music Hall to announce former Vancouver Canucks boss Alain Vigneault as their new head coach … The Phoenix Coyotes are in a waiting pattern with head coach Dave Tippett, who isn’t interested in re-upping in the desert until the ‘Yotes have an owner, the Arizona Republic reported ... NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the Bergen Record the league isn’t concerned about the New Jersey Devils’ long-term sustainability despite a report from the New York Post saying the Newark club recently defaulted on a loan … The Nashville Predators announced they’ve signed 25-year-old defenceman Victor Bartley to a three-year, $2 million deal … Former New York Islanders forward David Ullstrom has agreed to terms with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, the KHL club tweeted Wednesday … USA Hockey will name its head coach for next year’s Sochi Olympics on June 29, according to Sportsnet